Happy Birthday Vala!

Vala is one! She's walking, talking (a few words only mom can understand), and destined to be the class clown! Since we homeschool, I guess that means the family clown. She LOVES to find out what makes people laugh and do it over and over again. She's also begun the dreaded tantrums whenever something doesn't go her way. Lord help us to discipline with wisdom and guide her little heart to You!

Vala at 9 1/2 months

Oh yes, Vala is into everything! As if keeping the house clean wasn't already impossible, she now adds to the ridiculously overwhelming task by pulling down everything her little hands are unfortunate enough to get hold of. At least the books on the bookshelf in the background were actually ON the bookshelf. She loves to pull them all off when I'm not looking (and for concerned people, I don't let my children play with electrical cords. The fan in the background is broken and was on it's way out to the trash when I took this picture). However, she does try to earn her keep by eating a steady diet of whatever is on the floor!

But . . . there is a huge upside to all of this-- she's so darn cute!!! She really is a lot of fun right now, and overall, I do love this stage! :)

Vala loves: waving to everyone, clapping her hands, raising her arms above her head (usually only one) to make us say, "Sooooo big!", making clicking noises with her mouth, and hanging upside down. She's standing by herself and has taken 1 step a few times. She definitely has not learned the "don't go into the kitchen" rule. I don't know if she doesn't get it or if she's just that stubborn. With blind optimism I prefer to assume the former. I think she's going to be another feisty one . . . she loves playing rough with Beren!

She does still nap well though, for which I am very grateful. :)

Vala

Thought family might like to see a cute video of Vala crawling and pulling up at almost 8 months. She just turned 9 months and can now stand on her own, but is not taking steps. She also just learned how to wave and clap her hands. She's starting to respond to "No" and is also making ba-ba and da-da sounds. She loves to watch your mouth talk and try to imitate the sounds. What a cutie!

School is underway!

Well, the first week and a half of school is behind us. We've had a good start in general, though we are still trying to really get into the swing of things. And, of course, with four children 6 and under, there will always be tweaking to do. Plus, I'm still learning new things as a teacher and constantly adjusting my philosophy on teaching in light of what I'm learning.

Our ideal schedule looks a little fuller than this, but this is what it has ended up as looking like these past few days:

8:30~ breakfast (Vala goes back to bed for morning nap)

9:30 ~All the kids recite memory work (We've been working on Deut 6: 4-9 here at home and yesterday we added Matthew 7: 13-14 since that's their memory verse for church this week)

~Then I read out loud (Little House on the Prairie)

~Lorien practices oral narration as she tells the story back to me

10:30~ Phonics and writing with Lorien or copywork and she reads a bit to me

11:00~Feed Vala and Lorien reads to me or does copywork if she is not done.

~Play time till lunch

Then in the afternoon while the kids are napping, we do piano or math or art. So, things have been mixed and matched quite a bit this first week and a half, but hopefully, we'll soon figure out what is the best general routine and stick with it.

Gearing up for school

Well, it's that time of year again. We're starting school on Monday. We've had a good break this summer, but we're all looking forward to getting back into a routine again. Lorien told me yesterday, "Mom, you never read to us anymore." so, I know they're ready for school to start back up! I'm looking forward to it too.

This summer I read a book called: Teaching the Trivium- Christian Homeschooling In a Classical Style. It was another one of those life-altering books. God really used it to remind me why I am homeschooling and what my job is as a parent, training His children. It is a great book to read even if you are not considering using a classical style of education. In fact, I highly recommend that anyone who is homeschooling or thinking about homeschooling read at least the first 3 chapters of this book. I think it's the best scriptural argument for homeschooling that I've ever read.

So, we'll update you as the school year gets underway!

Colorado Trip

As I mentioned in another entry, in June, we took a family vacation to Colorado Springs to visit Monte's brother, Andy, and his wife Angela. It was a wonderful trip and we all had a great time!

We went camping at a KOA (the highest in the nation) up in the mountains where we hiked and enjoyed smores (and yes, Beren enjoyed shoveling dirt). Angela, thanks for finding warm clothes for the kids!

We visited an old mining community turned casino town where we checked out the old mining equipment, and, of course, the old outhouse was a fun attraction!

After saying goodbye to the campgrounds, we took a trip through a dino museum where the kids got to uncover dinosaur bones and say, "Woe, that's a big thigh bone!" We had fun!

Most of all, we enjoyed being with Uncle Andy and Aunt Angela and getting to know them better. I think by the time we left, they were ready to get rid of us. But, they sure showed us a great time. Thanks Andy and Angela!

On the way there

4-wheelin' with Angela

Visiting Angela's parents

Camping in the mountains

Visiting an old mining community

A dinosaur museum

New Van

Well, goodbye faithful friend! Our van bit the dust . . . on our way to Omaha. Monte's dad graciously came and rescued us off of the side of the interstate. We stuffed ourselves and our luggage into his car and drove the rest of the way to Elmwood, NE where they live. That was the last time we saw our van. *sad* Well, when it was time to head home, Monte's Aunt Connie lent us her S.U.V. and Monte's mom drove us the three hours back home then headed back to NE. Praise the Lord for family who loves us and is willing to help us out!

So . . .

We got a new van! Monte found a '03 Toyota Sienna online that was priced way below blue book, so after checking it out, he drove to Wisconsin to get it. It's great. It has TWO sliding doors (one of which is electric)! It also has cruise control (now Monte's foot won't go to sleep on our long trips) and a working fuel gauge! Plus, it just looks nice, ya know-- no rust, a non-cracked windshield and interier carpets not yet caked with crushed cracker crumbs. I feel so spoiled. It is a very nice vehicle. Thank you, Lord.

Last School Year

Sorry to all of you who have been waiting for updates . . . for four months. I'm finally getting around to it. This may be boring to some of you, so if it is too long, just skip to the pictures at the end. But, many of you have asked how our school year went, so I'll give you an idea of what school is like at our house-- not that it won't change as we change; that's part of the beauty of homeschooling.

Lorien was in Kindergarten this year. She learned to read and was so excited when she read the whole book of "Hop on Pop" all by herself! But, on the whole, she's not that interested in reading yet, so we're not pushing it. We went at a comfortable pace this year and are taking a break this summer with periodic reviews.

She loved math and is quite good at it. She's learned about concepts like place value, addition and subtraction, and even the area of a rectangle. She also learned skills like using tally marks and skip counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's.

Bible time or prayer always started out our day. I didn't do as good of a job teaching scripture memory as I should have, but we've worked more on that this summer and I have a better plan for focussing on bible and scripture memory when school starts back up in the fall. But, an essential part of parenting is remembering to teach all the time, wherever we are and whatever we're doing, about the Lord and His ways. God has been gracious to constantly remind me of that and steer me back on track when I forget.

The kids all love being read to. We've read countless shorter books, but some of the longer books we read this year and this summer were: Charlotte's Web, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Heidi, Little House In the Big Woods, Stuart Little, Chatterer the Red Squirrel, and The Little Princess. A couple of these were books on tape that we enjoyed listening to on our way to and from Colorado this summer. I'll save the highlights from that trip for another entry.

The birth of Vala made this school year interesting. But, it was wonderful to be able to take a break and focus on being a family and enjoying our new baby without worrying about school for a while. I was amazed at how much we still got done and how much Lorien learned even though we spent fewer days and a third of the hours doing school than most kids do.

Beren really enjoyed doing pre-school activities this year. He had his own workbooks to do and had so much fun! He's just so eager to learn right now and soaks everything up!

Toward the very end of the year, I had someone give me this tip: have older kids teach the younger ones while you teach a middle child. So, while I taught Beren, Lorien taught Nienna her numbers, and how to sort by color, etc. This worked so well. They both loved it and it is a great way to keep toddlers entertained while you are working one-on-one with another child.

Our two "extra" activities this year were piano lessons and participation in a homeschool co-op. Lorien absolutely loves playing the piano and we have a great teacher who makes lessons and practicing so much fun. I would highly recommend her to everyone, so if anyone is looking for a great piano teacher, contact me for details.

Our homeschool co-op is run by moms who teach 4 different classes to 4 different age groups each Monday afternoon. We cover things that are not as easy for some people to cover at home like group sports in a P.E. class, Music, Art, a C.P.R. course, etc. The kids had a blast and made a lot of new friends.

The thing I loved this year was just being a family and getting to watch my kids learn in a relaxed environment using a curriculum taylored to each child's level and learning style. We would often enjoy a snack while doing our math or practice our Spanish words over lunch. I'm loving this and looking forward to another year starting in August.

Math:

Science:

Daddy reading Chatterer the Red Squirrel:

Timberline Church Update

Here is our church update: Timberline is an official e-free church in the central district as of Monday! Praise God! He is doing great things as always! We are seeking to love God, love others, and serve the world together. That is the simple vision God has given the pastors and we're striving to follow Jesus' example as disciples and disciple makers.

We've seen people come to Christ and others grow in amazing ways. Here are a few highlights of what Christ has done. A few weeks ago we heard two testimonies of forgiveness- one of a 50 something year old man who just forgave his father for sexually abusing him as a child and one of a man asking forgiveness from his family members for the way he behaved as an alcoholic. Wow! Amazing life transformation! Many husbands have begun to rise up and lead their families spiritually, rejecting passivity and stepping into the role God designed them for. We also just had a missions team return from Venezuela and heard the amazing testimonies of all The Lord did down there. I've been accused of being ambiguous and unspecific in my updates, so I'm trying to give examples of the way Jesus is working (without writing ten pages). :)

I've seen people in our own small group begin to open up and tell each other how they are really doing and the group is beginning to hold each other accountable (not in a legalistic way, but through encouragement, prayer, and asking how we are progressing in the area of discipleship God is growing us in). We have a long way to go before we are functioning the way the Lord is leading us to, but we're a work in progress as everyone is. We're getting to know our neighbors and starting to learn some of their stories and deepening friendships there. We've heard similar stories from the other small groups at Timberline.

In my own life, God has just brought me through a tough time. Vala was not eating well at all and I felt like all I did all day was try to get her to eat while she screamed. So, I think that probably had a lot to do with it, but I finally realized that I must be going through post partum depression. I've never dealt with anything like that before, so it was new to me and it took me a long time to figure out that's what it must be. And let me say, it was rotten! But, God slowly turned my attitude to joy in Him (little by little) even though I was still feeling the same way and . . . oh, my poor husband and children . . . I'm glad they are forgiving! But, praise the Lord, she is eating better now (I gave up dairy) and our house is much happier. And, spring is on the way!!

Thanks again to all of you who have been praying for our family and for Timberline church. Our Savior has answered your prayers and continues to stretch us and mold us into his image. And, let me tell you, the enemy does not like what is going on here, so please pray that we would remain alert and put on the full armor of God! We love you all and as always, would love to hear updates of what God is doing in your lives as well. God bless you!